Elle Decoration UK – March 2023
English | 197 pages | pdf | 105.17 MB
WHAT IS THE LOOK OF THE 2020S? BEYOND THE FACT THAT
I’m writing this editor’s letter three days after the start of the New Year, or that this Elle Decoration UK Magazine issue is hitting newsstands as a fresh season of runway shows kicks off, there is a palpable feeling in the air that one era is ending in fashion, and a new one beginning. The vibe shift that trend forecasters predicted last year seems to be settling into place. We’ve witnessed headline-making creative-director departures, with Alessandro Michele’s exit from Gucci, Riccardo Tisci’s move away from Burberry and Raf Simons’ decision to shutter his beloved label. And we’re also preparing for big designer debuts (stage right: Daniel Lee taking the helm at Burberry and Harris Reed at Nina Ricci.)
The clothes we wear are in a state of flux. How that looks depends on who you ask. A recent op-ed in The Guardian referred to the style of the moment as ‘chaotic’, ‘messy’, and ‘falling apart’ like the world around us. Meanwhile,
The Wall Street Journal has described this period as one in which ‘fashion got weird’. I’d counter that, and say the general vibe is one of rebellion, a refusal to be contained by a single overriding trend or colour story. Perhaps when we look back on this decade it won’t be about a dominant hemline like the swingy mini-skirt of the Sixties or modest prairie dress of the 2010s. And maybe it won’t be about an inescapable uniform like the Fifties-era New Look or Nineties minimalism. What if the look of the 2020s is an energy, an attitude, more than anything else?
The spirit of rebellion and how it’s helping shape this unfolding decade runs throughout this special fashion issue. On p46, Jess Cartner-Morley analyses the surreal turn the catwalks have taken and what this will mean for our wardrobes. Meanwhile our cover star Emma Corrin joins a portfolio of rising upstarts from the worlds of television and Film-Intilligent, status quo-busting talents including digital cover star Micheal Ward and Daryl McKormak in trying on some of the season’s most thrilling looks by our favourite fashion rebels (‘Being Emma Corrin’, p92, and ‘Screen savers’, p98).
And on p132, Rosamund Urwin explores the tidal wave of what a recent Gallup poll called female fury, as women from Iran to Ukraine to here in the UK take a stand for our collective rights, whether it be to decide what we do with our bodies, preserve our basic freedoms or increase access to affordable childcare. On our fashion pages, we celebrate the strong spirit of freedom and individualism running throughout the spring season (‘Back to black’, p108 and ‘One of a kind’, p120). There has never been a more fascinating time to get dressed.
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